The Fluffiest Potato Gnocchi
You haven’t really tasted gnocchi until you’ve had this Fluffiest Potato Gnocchi. At least that was what I was told when I went to dinner at my good friend Monica’s house. Monica and her husband Robert are the most gracious and entertaining hosts and both are phenomonal cooks. That being said, they KNOW Italian food. How to cook it and how to serve it. I walked in to their kitchen that evening and saw a bowl of riced potatoes sitting on the counter and it piqued my curiosity. Monica informed me that we were making homemade gnocchi. She knows what she is doing so I was game!
To be honest, gnocchi isn’t at the top of my list when I think of good Italian food. Those bland chunks of chewy dough just weren’t that appealing to me. Well, they are now! And she was right, you haven’t had gnocchi until you have tried this. These gnocchi are light little pillows, not dense or chewy. You will NEVER eat packaged gnocchi again.
Just a handful of ingredients, they come together quickly and are fun to roll out, especially if you have a friend with you and a glass of wine. But even if you are rolling out these gnocchi by yourself, it is not a daunting process. These babies cook up fast–make sure whatever sauce you are serving them with is done ahead of time. Equally good with a bolognese sauce, spicy red sauce or just dunked in some butter, garlic and crushed red pepper then sprinkled with cheese. So delicious!
The Fluffiest Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 4 baking potatoes
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Bake potatoes until they are fork tender, about 1 hour. Slice the potatoes in half to cool slightly. Scrape out the insides of the potatoes one at a time, and push through a potato ricer into a large bowl.
- Add the salt and egg yolks into the cooled potatoes, then add about 3/4 of the flour and stir to mix. Dump this mixture onto a floured surface with your hands and knead. Add the rest of the flour as needed, kneading until you have a smooth dough. Try not to over knead the dough.
- Pull off handfuls of the dough at a time. Roll into smallish logs and cut with a knife into little pillows. Put these pillows on a baking sheet lined with parchment and sprinkled with a bit of flour. Put them in the refrigerator until ready to cook
- To cook the gnocchi, gently drop them into a large pot of boiling salted water. They will float to the top when done. I like to make sure that they are uniform in color once they are floating. Use a slotted spoon to remove them and place directly on plate or bowl. They are now ready for whatever sauce you like! Enjoy!